R rating for ‘Bully’

This is the link to the initial story. Since then there have been petitions and lots of talk about this film. Certainly the rating begs the question about our ability to discuss openly how difficult bullying can be. The second link is to the review of the film on CommonSenseMedia. [EF]

Last week, The Weinstein Company announced that its appeal of the R rating given to its documentary “Bully,” which takes a close look at bullying in America’s schools, was denied by the Motion Picture Association of America.

The MPAA released a statement explaining that although it agrees with Weinstein that “bullying is a serious issue and is a subject that parents should discuss with their children,” it’s also MPAA’s responsibility to “indicate to parents that this movie contains certain language.” MPAA emphasizes that a rating “is not a judgment on the value of any movie” but rather conveys that parents should make their own decision about whether or not their child should see the film.